The National Mall is a landscaped park located near the downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States, and is administered by the National Park Service (NPS) of the United States Department of the Interior.

The term National Mall commonly refers to the entire area between the Lincoln Memorial on the west and east to the United States Capitol grounds, shown green on the map below.

The National Mall contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institution, art galleries, cultural institutions, and various memorials, sculptures, and statues. The park receives approximately 24 million visitors each year.

Our tour of Washington National Mall took in many of the US government buildings and memorials shown on the map below. The following photos include (from the left of the map): Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Korean War Memorial (just above West Potomac Park), World War II Memorial, Washington Memorial, The White House, United States Capitol Building (housing The Senate and House of Representatives), Supreme Court of the United States, the Library of Congress and the National Archives Museum. Other attractions included on the ‘Suburbs’ page are the Thomas Jefferson Memorial (located south of the World War II Memorial), Ford’s Theatre (located just north of the FBI building on the map), Chinatown (located top right of map) and the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site (located at Cedar Hill, Anacostia, just off bottom right of map). Arlington National Cemetery (on a separate web page) is located to the left of the map just across the Potomac River.

This was an amazing trip spending four days just in the central area of Washington – the most amazing city centre in the world, by far!

Map courtesy Google Maps

The Lincoln Memorial 

The US national memorial built to honour the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington Monument. It has always been a major tourist attraction and since the 1930s has been a symbolic centre focused on race relations.

The building is in the form of a Greek Doric temple and contains a large seated sculpture of Abraham Lincoln and inscriptions of two well-known speeches by Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address and his second inaugural address. The memorial has been the site of many famous speeches, including Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered on August 28, 1963, during the rally at the end of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool

The largest of the many reflecting pools in Washington, D.C., United States. It is a long and large rectangular pool located on the National Mall, directly east of the Lincoln Memorial, with the Washington Monument to the east of the reflecting pool. Part of the iconic image of Washington, the reflecting pool hosts many of the 24 million visitors a year who visit the National Mall. It is lined by walking paths and shade trees on both sides. Depending on the viewer’s vantage point, it dramatically reflects the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Mall’s trees, and/or the expansive sky.

“I Have A Dream” Marker, Lincoln Memorial

“I Have a Dream” is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, in which he called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the speech was a defining moment of the civil rights movement and among the most iconic speeches in American history.

Baseball on the National Mall

National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center

The Smithsonian Institution, also known simply as The Smithsonian, is a trust instrumentality of the United States composed as a group of museums and research centers. It was founded on August 10, 1846, “for the increase and diffusion of knowledge”. The institution is named after its founding donor, British scientist James Smithson. It was originally organized as the “United States National Museum”, but that name ceased to exist as an administrative entity in 1967.

Termed “the nation’s attic”[6] for its eclectic holdings of 154 million items, the Institution’s 19 museums, 21 libraries, nine research centers, and zoo include historical and architectural landmarks, mostly located in the District of Columbia.

The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center collects, preserves, and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific, and military history. Among the items on display is the original Star-Spangled Banner. The museum is part of the Smithsonian Institution and located on the National Mall at 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW.

Lincoln Campaign Banner, 1860

United States Capitol

The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol Building, is the meeting place of the United States Congress and the seat of the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government. It is located on Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall

Thomas Jefferson Memorial

The Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial built in Washington, D.C. between 1939 and 1943 under the sponsorship of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt thought that it was a suitable memorial to the Founding Fathers of the United States and to Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the founder of the Democratic-Republican Party.

The White House

The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. The term “White House” is often used as a figure of speech for the president and advisers.

World War II Memorial

Dedicated to Americans who served in the armed forces and as civilians during World War II. Consisting of 56 pillars and a pair of small triumphal arches surrounding a square and fountain, it sits on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., at the eastern end of the Reflecting Pool, between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Honours service members of the U.S. armed forces who fought in the Vietnam War, service members who died in service in Vietnam/South East Asia, and those service members who were unaccounted for during the war. This is the main part of the memorial, located in Constitution Gardens adjacent to the National Mall, just northeast of the Lincoln Memorial.

Korean War Veterans Memorial

Located in Washington, D.C.’s West Potomac Park, southeast of the Lincoln Memorial and just south of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall. It memorializes those who served in the Korean War.

Statue of Albert Einstein

Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the de facto national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. The library is housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The library’s functions are overseen by the librarian of Congress, and its buildings are maintained by the architect of the Capitol. The Library of Congress is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its “collections are universal, not limited by subject, format, or national boundary, and include research materials from all parts of the world and in more than 450 languages.”

National Archives Building

The National Archives Building, known informally as Archives I, is the headquarters of the National Archives and Records Administration.
It is located north of the National Mall at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest, Washington, D.C.. The Rotunda entrance is on Constitution Avenue, while the research entrance is on Pennsylvania Avenue. A second larger facility, known as “Archives II” (or simply as “A2”), is located in College Park, Maryland.

The National Archives building holds original copies of the three main formative documents of the United States and its government: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. They are displayed to the public in the main chamber of the National Archives, which is called the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom.